Preliminary Acquisition of Payment Information

1. A payment terminal for receiving a request for payment and exchanging electronic payment information with a chip card, the payment terminal comprising: a chip card interface configured to receive the chip card and exchange the electronic payment information with the chip card; a communication interface configured to communicate with one or more transaction processing servers; a user interface configured to display a point-of-sale application to a user and receive user inputs based on the point-of-sale application; one or more processing units coupled to the chip card interface, the communication interface, and the user interface, wherein the one or more processing units are configured to execute user interface instructions, transaction pre-charge instructions, and transaction processing instructions; and one or more memories configured to store the user interface instructions, the transaction pre-charge instructions, and the transaction processing instructions, wherein the user interface instructions, when executed by the one or more processing units, cause the one or more processing units to display the point-of-sale application at the user interface, to initiate a transaction, to receive at a chip card interface electronic payment information associated with a chip card, to generate a pre-charge request in response to a first user input at the point-of sale application wherein the pre-charge request is associated with a predicted payment amount for the transaction, and to receive a transaction complete indicator in response to a subsequent user input at the point-of-sale application, wherein the pre-charge instructions, when executed by the one or more processing units, cause the one or more processing units to send the pre-charge request to the chip card interface, to acquire an authorization response cryptogram associated with the chip card from the chip card interface in response to the pre-charge request, and to store the authorization response cryptogram in association with the predicted payment amount, and wherein the transaction processing instructions, when executed by the one or more processing units, cause the one or more processing units (1) to determine an actual payment amount of the transaction, (2) to compare the actual payment amount to a plurality of predicted payment amounts, each predicted payment amount being stored in association with a respective stored authorization response cryptogram associated with the chip card, the comparing being done for each of the plurality of predicted payment amounts until a stored predicted payment amount, of the plurality of predicted payment amounts, that matches the actual payment amount is found, (3) to identify an authorization response cryptogram stored in association with the stored predicted payment amount, and (4) to transmit the identified authorization response cryptogram to the one or more transaction processing servers via the communication interface.

2. The payment terminal of claim 1 , wherein the pre-charge request includes a preliminary payment amount.

3. The payment terminal of claim 2 , wherein the pre-charge instructions, when executed by the one or more processing units, further cause the one or more processing units to send a plurality of additional pre-charge requests to the chip card interface, wherein each pre-charge request includes a unique preliminary payment amount, wherein the pre-charge instructions, when executed by the one or more processing units, further cause the one or more processing units to receive additional authorization response cryptograms in response to the additional pre-charge requests and store the additional authorization response cryptograms, and wherein the transaction processing instructions, when executed by the one or more processing units, cause the one or more processing units to determine an actual payment amount based on the subsequent user input, to compare the preliminary payment amounts associated with the stored authorization response cryptograms to the actual payment amount, and when one of the preliminary payment amounts matches the actual payment amount, to transmit an authorization response cryptogram associated with the matching preliminary payment amount to the one or more transaction processing servers via the communication interface in response to receiving the transaction complete indicator.

4. The payment terminal of claim 3 , wherein each of the preliminary payment amounts is based on a predicted payment amount for the transaction.

5. A system for processing a chip card transaction, the system comprising: a chip card interface configured to exchange payment messages with a chip card; a communication interface configured to communicate with one or more transaction processing servers; a user interface configured to display a point-of-sale application to a user and receive user inputs based on the point-of-sale application; one or more processing units coupled to the chip card interface, the communication interface, and the user interface, wherein the one or more processing units are configured to execute user interface instructions, transaction pre-charge instructions, and transaction processing instructions; and one or more memories configured to store the user interface instructions, the transaction pre-charge instructions, and the transaction processing instructions, wherein the user interface instructions, when executed by the one or more processing units, cause the one or more processing units to display the point-of-sale application to the user interface, to initiate a transaction, to receive at a chip card interface, electronic payment information associated with a chip card, to generate a pre-charge request in response to a first user input at the point-of sale application wherein the pre-charge request is associated with a predicted payment amount for the transaction, and to receive a transaction complete indicator in response to a subsequent user input at the point-of-sale application, wherein the pre-charge instructions, when executed by the one or more processing units, cause the one or more processing units to send the pre-charge request to the chip card interface, to acquire an authorization information response associated with the chip card from the chip card interface, and to store the authorization information response in association with the predicted payment amount, and wherein the transaction processing instructions, when executed by the one or more processing units, cause the processing unit (1) to determine an actual payment amount of the transaction, (2) to compare the actual payment amount to a plurality of predicted payment amounts, each predicted payment amount being stored in association with a respective stored authorization information response, the comparing being done for each of the plurality of predicted payment amounts until a stored predicted payment amount, of the plurality of predicted payment amounts, that matches the actual payment amount is found, (3) to identify an authorization information response stored in association with the stored predicted payment amount, and (4) to transmit the identified authorization information response to the one or more transaction processing servers via the communication interface.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the pre-charge request includes a preliminary payment amount.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the pre-charge instructions, when executed by the one or more processing units, further cause the one or more processing units to send a plurality of additional pre-charge requests to the chip card interface, wherein each pre-charge request includes a unique preliminary payment amount, wherein the pre-charge instructions, when executed by the one or more processing units, further cause the one or more processing units to receive additional authorization information responses in response to the additional pre-charge requests and store the additional authorization information responses, and wherein the transaction processing instructions, when executed by the one or more processing units, cause the one or more processing units to determine an actual payment amount based on the subsequent user input, to compare the preliminary payment amounts associated with the stored authorization information responses to the actual payment amount, and when one of the preliminary payment amounts matches the actual payment amount, to transmit an authorization information response associated with the matching preliminary payment amount to the one or more transaction processing servers via the communication interface in response to receiving the transaction complete indicator.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein each of the preliminary payment amounts is based on a predicted payment amount for the transaction.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein each of the predicted payment amounts is based on a history of past payment transactions.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of additional pre-charge requests is sent to the chip card interface until the transaction complete indicator is received.

11. The system of claim 5 , wherein the authorization information response comprises an authorization response cryptogram.

12. The system of claim 5 , wherein the transaction processing instructions, when executed by the one or more processing units, further cause the processing unit to determine a final payment amount based on the subsequent user input, to generate a payment authorization message based on the stored authorization information and the final payment amount, and to transmit the payment authorization message to the one or more transaction processing servers via the communication interface.

13. A chip card transaction processing method, comprising: displaying, at a user interface of a payment terminal, point-of-sale application to a user; initiating a transaction; receiving, at the user interface, a user input based on the point-of-sale application, the user input relating to the transaction; generating a pre-charge request in response to the user input at the point-of-sale application, wherein the pre-charge request is associated with a predicted payment amount for the transaction; sending the pre-charge request to a chip card interface; acquiring an authorization information response associated with the chip card from the chip card interface; storing the authorization information response from the chip card interface in association with the predicted payment amount; receiving, at the user interface, a transaction complete indicator in response to a subsequent user input at the point-of-sale application; determining an actual payment amount of the transaction, in response to receipt of the transaction completed indicator; comparing the actual payment amount to a plurality of predicted payment amounts, each predicted payment amount being stored in association with a respective stored authorization information response associated with the chip card, the comparing being done for each of the plurality of predicted payment amounts until a stored predicted payment amount, of the plurality of predicted payment amounts, that matches the actual payment amount is found; identifying an authorization information response stored in association with the stored predicted payment amount; and transmitting, via a communication interface of the payment terminal, the identified authorization information response to one or more transaction processing servers.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the pre-charge request includes a preliminary payment amount.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising: sending a plurality of additional pre-charge requests to the chip card interface, wherein each pre-charge request includes a unique preliminary payment amount; receiving additional authorization information responses in response to the plurality of additional pre-charge requests; storing the additional authorization information responses; determining an actual payment amount based on the subsequent user input; comparing the preliminary payment amounts associated with the stored authorization information responses to the actual payment amount; and transmitting, when one of the preliminary payment amounts matches the actual payment amount, the authorization information response associated with the matching preliminary payment amount to the one or more transaction processing servers via the communication interface in response to the transaction complete indicator.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein each of the preliminary payment amounts is based on a predicted payment amount for the transaction.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein each of the predicted payment amounts is based on a history of past payment transactions.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein sending the plurality of additional pre-charge requests to the chip card interface comprises sending the plurality of additional pre-charge requests to the chip card interface until the transaction complete indicator is received.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the authorization information response comprises an authorization response cryptogram.

20. The method of claim 13 , further comprising: determining a final payment amount based on the subsequent user input; generating a payment authorization message based on the stored authorization information and the final payment amount; and transmitting the payment authorization message to the one or more transaction processing servers via the communication interface.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: displaying, to a user at a user interface, a point-of-sale application; initiating a transaction; receiving a user input from the user interface based on the point-of-sale application, the user input relating to the transaction; generating a pre-charge request in response to the user input at the point-of-sale application, wherein the pre-charge request is associated with a predicted payment amount for the transaction; providing the pre-charge request to a chip card interface; acquiring an authorization information response associated with the chip card from the chip card interface; storing the authorization information response from the chip card interface in association with the predicted payment amount; receiving a transaction complete indicator from the user interface in response to a subsequent user input at the point-of-sale application; determining an actual payment amount of the transaction; comparing the actual payment amount to a plurality of predicted payment amounts, each predicted payment amount being stored in association with a respective stored authorization information response, the comparing being done for each of the plurality of predicted payment amounts until a stored predicted payment amount, of the plurality of predicted payment amounts, that matches the actual payment amount is found; identifying an authorization information response stored in association with the stored predicted payment amount; and providing the identified authorization information response for transmission via a communication interface to one or more transaction processing servers.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the pre-charge request includes a preliminary payment amount.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions that, when executed by the one or more processing units, cause the one or more processors to: provide a plurality of additional pre-charge requests to the chip card interface, wherein each pre-charge request includes a unique preliminary payment amount; receive additional authorization information responses in response to the plurality of additional pre-charge requests; provide the additional authorization information responses for storage in memory; determine an actual payment amount based on the subsequent user input; compare the preliminary payment amounts associated with the stored authorization information responses to the actual payment amount; and provide, to the communication interface when one of the preliminary payment amounts matches the actual payment amount, the authorization information response associated with the matching preliminary payment amount for transmission to the one or more transaction processing servers in response to the transaction complete indicator.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23 , wherein each of the preliminary payment amounts is based on a predicted payment amount for the transaction.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 24 , wherein each of the predicted payment amounts is based on a history of past payment transactions.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23 , wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to provide the plurality of additional pre-charge requests to the chip card interface comprise instructions that cause the one or more processors to provide the plurality of additional pre-charge requests to the chip card interface until the transaction complete indicator is received.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the authorization information response comprises an authorization response cryptogram.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions that cause the one or more processors to: determine a final payment amount based on the subsequent user input; generate a payment authorization message based on the stored authorization information and the final payment amount; and provide, to the communication interface, the payment authorization message for transmission to the one or more transaction processing servers.

29. The method of claim 13 , further comprising: generating a plurality of additional pre-charge requests, wherein each pre-charge request corresponds to a predicted payment amount of the plurality of predicted payment amounts; storing, in association with each of the plurality of additional pre-charge requests, a respective priority value; sending the plurality of additional pre-charge requests to the chip card interface in order of their associated priority value; receiving authorization information responses in response to the plurality of additional pre-charge requests; and storing the received authorization information responses.